Columbia University, New York, NY
Postbac Research (2014-2016)
Activity-dependent trafficking, degradation, and biophysics of Kv4.2
@National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Voltage-gated potassium ion channel Kv4.2 (Hoffman Lab)
In Dr. Dax Hoffman’s lab at the NIH, I studied voltage-gated potassium channel Kv4.2, a membrane protein found in the hippocampus brain region that is critical for learning and memory. During this fellowship, I developed new protocols and reagents that continue to be used in follow-up studies. I discovered that Kv4.2 trafficking and degradation is regulated by protein ubiquitin in a novel way that requires activity-dependent phosphorylation of Kv4.2 and its auxiliary subunits. I also developed and characterized a novel extracellular tag (using bungarotoxin binding site) that allows live visualization of Kv4.2 internalization.
Tabor, G.T.*, Park, J.M.*, Murphy, J.G., Hu, J.H., & Hoffman, D.A. (2019). A novel bungarotoxin binding site-tagged construct reveals MAPK-dependent Kv4.2 trafficking. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. *co-first authors.
Check out my research highlight by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development!
Park, J.M. (2015). Novel modification to Alzheimer’s-linked ion channel. The NICHD Connection.
Even now, I am actively collaborating with my former colleagues on a manuscript demonstrating that even a minor disruption of the Kv4.2 ubiquitination pathway impairs hippocampus-dependent behaviors and may contribute to Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes developmental disabilities. Stay tuned!
Awards:
UCL-NIMH Joint Doctoral Training Program in Neuroscience full scholarship, 2016-2020 – National Institutes of Health, declined
Gruber Science Fellowship at Yale, 2016-2018 – Yale University and Gruber Foundation, declined
Best Postbac Poster Award, 2015 – National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Postbac Poster Day Outstanding Poster Award, 2015 – National Institutes of Health
Funding:
Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award, 2014-2016 – National Institutes of Health